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Why the Strike is Wrong

It is hard on public sector workers to be asked to contribute more to their pensions but it is fair to taxpayers

November 25 2011, 12:01am, The Times

A very odd row broke out yesterday about the cost of next week’s planned strikes over plans for public sector pensions. The Government claimed that the economic impact of the action might be as high as £500 million. In response Brendan Barber, of the TUC, said that the figure was “fantasy economics” while Mark Serwotka, of the Public and Commercial Services Union, described it as a “scare story”.

In other words, the unions were accusing the Government of overestimating the significance of the action by the strikers and overvaluing the economic contribution of public service workers. This seems a strange position for them to take.

What explains it? The unions are keen to show that they are the reasonable party in the dispute and that…